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Summer, part 5: Anilao

June 3, 2011    |    0 COMMENT(S)


The high school barkada outing we have been planning for years finally, finally happened. (We have no "group name" we just refer to ourselves as "Friends" - which isn't exactly wrong, really, but isn't unique either. Oh well.) With a little luck and help from the universe (aka my parents) we were able to find a location at the very last minute and before you know it, we were off to Anilao.

The barkada wasn't complete, and we won't be any time soon because Inna is in Canada already. It's such a shame that we weren't able to do this while she was here - mostly we just hang around each other's houses, watching lame-ass movies, eating chips, gossiping about batchmates - the usual. The funny thing is we were okay with it. We were never the kind of friends who went out to swanky restaurants or shopped together - we were fine just lazing around on someone's bedroom or Trixie's pool. It was the company that mattered, not the venue. But I guess this summer we figured it was about time we grew up and ventured someplace else. After all, we were almost twenty years old! We needed a proper outing. Thankfully, majority of us managed to pull some strings and take some time off - and this happened.

And so this was that. It probably was the most fun we've ever had in a long while. Doesn't it amaze you how with high school friends, the amount of time or distance that separates you will never get in the way of you guys reconnecting? It was as if we were back where we left off four years ago, in St. Paul, wearing our checkered skirts. A lot has changed, and yet it felt like nothing did - it was a comforting kind of sameness just being with them again.


The biggest most exciting part of the trip was our sudden decision to go scuba diving. It was the first time for all of us and we were really, really excited. It was a good thing we had more than enough money with us to accommodate the additional expense, but something tells me that we'd be more than glad to save up for it again next time - we were hooked, really.


It was just a twenty to thirty-minute dive for each of us but it was probably the most beautiful half hour I've had in a while. Just to see marine life in their natural habitat was truly humbling - if this was what we had under our shores, how come we never really appreciate it? A beautiful pink and purple fish passed by in front of me, and I thought to myself, there are so many things in the world I have yet to see and yet to know - I can't wait to discover more of them.

It was such a shame that we weren't able to bring a proper underwater camera (the camera used for the scuba shots were the resort owner's) - I would have loved to share all that I've seen with you guys. But I guess you'd have to experience it for yourself then :)


Me having a very "P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, Sydney" moment. This was definitely one of my most memorable experiences ever - something I can cross off my bucket list. I'm looking forward to scuba diving again, but more than that I can't wait to do it again with Friends. :)

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